Atomic Robo
For the character, see Atomic Robo (Character) Atomic Robo is a pulp action comic written by Brian Clevinger and drawn by Scott Wegener, with colors by Ronda Pattison and lettering by Jeff Powell. It was nominated two Eisner Awards in 2008 for "Best Coloring" and "Best Limited Series", falling short of The Umbrella Academy. The comic began as a six-issue mini-series published by Red 5 Comics since October 2007. The first six issues has been collected in trade paperback form as Atomic Robo and the Fightin' Scientists of Tesladyne. The comic grew in popularity, and so it spawned into multiple volumes, each documenting a mini-story arc. The most current issue, Temple of Od is ongoing online. On January 2015, the series transitioned to web comic format, where issues can be found at atomic-robo.com. Premise The comic chronicles the adventures of an atomic-powered robot with "automatic" intelligence created by Nikola Tesla in 1923. This robot, named "Atomic Robo", was subject to controversy from scientists and religious groups alike for months. It was then that he was eventually accepted into society and began studying, earning a PhD in Physics at Columbia University. The comic begins when Atomic Robo was ordered in 1938 by the U.S. Military to track down and capture an evil scientist known as Baron Heinrich von Helsingard. Fighing and eventually defeating him in his secret base in the Himalayas, Atomic Robo was granted full citizenship status as a human being in America. It is later on after Tesla's sudden death when Atomic Robo finds Tesladyne, a company devoted to new scientific innovations and inquiries. Decades of fighting all manners of weirdness (such as moving pyramids and giant ants), Atomic Robo forms the Action Scientists League, and they became the go-to defense force against these oddities... Characters *'Atomic Robo'- a robot created by Nikola Tesla in 1923. He is a unique robot in that he can think for himself and others, known as automatic intelligence. He has the unique qualities of both a human and a robot in which he walks, talks, and interacts like a human, but is indestructible and built with super strength, like a robot. He has an adventurous, somewhat likeable personality, and has led a very public life since his creation. *'Baron Heinrich von Helsingard'- a German scientist who is under arrest for crimes against humanity. Since his defeat in 1938, he has become Atomic Robo's archnemesis. Haughty and arrogant, he has deeply resentful of the destruction of his "Vril Organ", an artifact that can create a super-man, and pursued after Robo multiple times in history. His body was destroyed since their encounter and since then, multiple clones of his brain were created to fit into large battle gear to fight Atomic Robo. Helsingard hails an almighty regime under his name, and his multitude of followers stop at nothing to fulfill his eternal wish of world conquest. *'Action Scientists League'- scientists employed at Tesladyne who fight alongside Atomic Robo in their adventures. They are a colorful bunch and are often only referred to by their last names, much like soldiers in a military. A notable Action Scientist is Jenkins, a survivor of the vampire dimension and an ex-Seal. Reception The release of the first mini-series was given positive feedback by many critics. Many praised the series for it's return to the two-fisted pulp action genre, as well as it's blend of wit, action, and science fiction themes. The series was nominated an Eisner Award in 2008 for Best Limited Series and Ronda Pattison was nominated for Best Coloring. According to the official site, Clevinger and Wegener promised a "no cheesecake, no angst, no delays, no filler, and no flashbacks", which was something of a norm with comics since the 80's and 90's. One of the major reasons the comic was developed was due to Clevinger's annoyance of picking up a comic book only to find himself entangled in a web of mega-continuities, angst-filled characters, misogyny, and constant retconning and delays, something which Wegener agreed with on his proposal. The second series was also praised for it's continuing art improvement by most critics, but the World War II theme was something of a down point with others. Because the series became so popular in the independent comic industry, Renoir Comics struck a deal with Clevinger to make an official translation of the first volume in Italian. The book was unveiled at the 2009 Lucca Comics & Games Convention. Clevinger and Wegener went to the small town of Lucca, Italy to publicize the comic book to the Italian comic book audience. Clevinger also made a deal with Norma Editorial in May 2010 to create a Spanish localization. The comic book series has also garnered some attention in the Hollywood film industry, but it is unknown if this is merely a claim or not. Regardless, Atomic Robo came at 296 out of the Top 300 comic sales of September 2009, as well as Top 20 in Diamond's top selling small press comics of the same month. Comic Scripts *List of Atomic Robo Comic Scripts External Links *Official Atomic Robo Website *Wikipedia Article Category:Other Works Category:Atomic Robo Category:Comics